He Was The First of Many
by Owls The Sailor
Summary: Even though the Dark Lord was defeated, some darkness remained. And who is there to fight it: James Potter and friends. Sounds hopeful, doesn't it. (currently a series of drabbles but I hope to wonder make it into a part of a series.)
1. Muggles

A/N: Hey-o people! Whoo! Today was kinda exciting. Lots of writing...that's mostly it. I love writing though.

So I actually have prompts this time (exciting right, I know!)

Felix Felicis - QLFC round 7, keeper (GO Puddlemere, potatoes)

She closed her eyes, and just for a moment allowed the illusion to consume her. - Hogwarts House Challenge: the quidditch pitch

Muggles - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Challenges and Assignments, Capture the Flag.

Lots of stuff. This actually corresponds with my fic New Kind of Fun in that its a back story for one of the characters...at least now it is. I don't know if I'll post it there.

Word count is 1,967

Anyways, Hoots

Owls

* * *

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Reid." The woman at the large wood desk smiled at the couple holding hands as they entered. "My name is Megan Jones. I will help you on your journey of adopting today. Please, take a seat." She motioned to a couch against the wall, as she sat across from the couple in an armchair.

_They look so happy_, she wanted to blanched.

"Now we have a few options we would like you to explore," she faked a smile at the doting couple. "There are a lot of kids here who would love to be adopted, but we understand letting a child into your home is a big change and won't be easy, so thank you for considering it."

"This is our pleasure. We should be thanking you for giving us even the opportunity." The woman smiled warmly. She seemed nice and genuine. Not too sweet though.

"Yes, thank you so much." The man rubbed the woman's hand, smiling at her. Though his hold seemed to be keeping her there; the woman's hand wasn't holding his back. _They let anyone adopt now a days._

"Then we really need to get you a child before you change your minds." Megan laughed. It was the truth. "I'm going to make sure everything is ready."

She stepped out of the room. "Bloody hell," she whispered to the receptionist, an older woman with glasses. "They're muggles!" She mouthed, leaning against the desk.

The receptionist rolled her eyes. "You aren't an exclusively wizard consultant, Jones. Here, these are the files for the kids that are available to show them."

Megan tugged at the folder. "I hate this job. We treat kids like property."

"At least they're getting homes." The woman pointed out.

"Right," she flipped through the files.

"No! All these kids are wizards and witches."

"Oh," the receptionist started to search through the pile of files on her desk for Muggle children without meetings that day.

"Here, this girl is a Muggle." She handed Megan a file with a picture of a sad looking nine year-old with long brown hair, named Rowan. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine. Just a bit of a loner."

"She's a little old though. They want a baby." She said flipping through the thin file.

"Go." The woman hissed, motioning to Megan's office.

The girl sighed and took a deep breathe. "Right!" She marched to the door.

"Sorry, I took so long." She moved back to her desk. "We were having some technical difficulties."

"It's okay, we found your office fascinating." Mrs. Reid pointed to the bookshelf they were standing in front of, still holding hands, now a death grip on the husband's side.

On the shelves were plenty of ribbons there for valor in the wizarding war and articles from her days at Hogwarts. It was almost worrisome that they were looking at them, but Megan knew her stuff. "Oh those silly things. I used to make those when I was younger. Really imaginative, eh?" She fabricated a quick lie and began to rummage through her desk while they were distracted.

After a minute, she found a small emergency bottle of golden liquid Felix Felicius, her liquid lucky potion. It was frowned upon to use potions near muggles, but for the children, she reasoned taking a swig, corking it back up, and slipping it in her pocket.

"Let's go meet the candidates, right?" She felt spurred on by her literal liquid confidence and luck.

She was walking in front of the couple looking at Rowan's file. The two seemed to be whispering a lot and the oppressive silence on her end wasn't—helping, so she decided to open her big mouth. "Now, that technical difficulty we had it turns out that there are no babies available right now, but there is a wonderful little girl-" She turned to see why their footsteps had stopped.

"Wait, what?" the man stopped in his tracks.

"A little girl, sir." Megan notice a flare of anger in his eyes, and the woman gripped his hand tighter. There was a spark of fear in her eyes.

"Sweetie," the woman started with clenched teeth, but the man ignored her.

"We want a baby."

"We understand that, sir, but right now there are none available for you to view."

"Honey, we're leaving." He tugged the woman out, muttering.

Megan sighed and leaned against a wall, pulling out her small bottle of golden liquid. She took a sip, wanting to forget her failure. She had no luck when it came to Muggles. She began to fiddle with the cork of the bottle. _Maybe I should quit?_ She closed her eyes, trying to forget the failure to start her day.

In the world beyond her darkened eyes she heard footsteps. "I'm sorry about him." The woman's voice resounded. "Never should have married the man, thank God for divorce, right?"

Megan eyes snapped open in shock. "R-really, I wouldn't know." She was caught red handed with a potion. She was so dead. Hell! She didn't have to quit! She would be fired!

"Mind if I take a swig?" The woman asked pointing to the bottle. Megan nodded, unconsciously, it was too late anyways.

"Liquid luck? That's cute." The woman chuckled, sipping on it. "Most people call it liquid confidence, though."

Megan collapsed with relief; the woman only thought it was alcohol. Harmless alcohol.

"That's pretty strong stuff," she handed back the bottle. "Can we see the girl, now?"

"Uh, yes, I supose. Is Mr. Reid coming back?"

"No, I hope he never comes back, the bastard." She used an angry tone which came as shock to Megan, who thought the woman was a do-gooder all the time.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Megan thoroughly meant it for the sorry soul who messed with the woman before her.

"Right, about that, I filled these out," she rummaged through her purse and picked out some papers. "I filled them out and got them approved when I filled out the other papers. I can raise a child as a single mother, so no need to worry." She smiled again.

Megan wondered if this was the right choice, a woman who could get so angry, but she seemed to be able to bounce back easily. "Oh wow, uh, let's see her then Mrs. Reid-"

"Harrison, actually, but Reyna is fine."

"Okay, Ms. Independent."

"Well love is sorta a crazy wonky thing."

They laughed again, easing more into the situation. "Indeed."

Megan opened the door to a small conference room indicated on Rowan's paper. "This is Rowan." Megan motioned to the little girl with long brown hair. She looked up at them with big, gray eyes.

"Hi, Rowan, my name is Reyna. It's cool how our names start with the same letter, right?" Reyna smiled her warmest smile at the girl.

"Yeah, it's cool. Uh, are you thinking of adopting me?" Her eyes were innocent and wide; her voice, sweet and kind.

"Yes, is that okay with you?" Reyna asked sincerely. "If it's not, I can leave, but you seem really cool."

"Really? I'm cool? The other kids call me weird."

Reyna seemed to completely fall in love with the girl in that moment. Her shoulders softened, and she squatted so she was on Rowan's level. "You aren't weird. Kids used to call me weird all the time because I used to dye my hair crazy colors. I was in a band, too, but I didn't listen to any of them. I just had fun." She smiled. "I'm sure they're just jealous of you being so pretty and cool."

"Maybe, but I'm not pretty and I don't dye my hair or sing in a band. I just read a lot and make the lights go all funny."

"What?" Reyna and Megan asked at the same time.

"Charlie told me I was a witch like he was a wizard."

Reyna eyed Megan, but then laughed. "They play interesting games here." She looked at Rowan again. "So is there any chance you would like to be adopted by me?"

"Yeah," Rowan looked at her straight in the eye. "Can you live with a witch?"

"I'm sure I can," Reyna laughed.

"Um, Reyna, I need to speak with you for a moment." Megan cut into the sweet moment.

"Oh, I'm sure we can talk here."

Megan thought for a moment looking at Reyna holding Rowan's hand. She sighed. "Okay, uh...Merlin why?" She looked to the ceiling. "They don't exactly make pamphlets for this." She told Reyna.

"Rowan here is uh… oh, I should just show you." This really was not her lucky day. Getting a couple divorced and having to reveal the wizarding world to a muggle and ruin a little girl's life and getting fired! Nothing could go well.

"C'mon we're going to Diagon Alley."

"Where?" Reyna chased after Megan, holding Rowan's hand.

"Diagon Alley." Megan tossed behind her, finding the fireplace in the Staff Room.

"Okay, Rowan you first, I guess." She handed Rowan a handful of Floo powder sitting on a counter. "Throw this down and shout Diagon Alley, please." Megan instructing, pushing the girl into the fire place.

"Diagon Alley!" Rowan shouted. She threw the powder and was gone in a swirl of green smoke.

"Now you hurry along too," Megan motioned to the fireplace.

Reyna mouthed some jumbled words before settling on "What? Did she just get burnt?"

"Merlin, no. She just used Floo Powder. Now we can't leave Rowan alone, can we?"

"No, I guess, but I deserve explanation." Reyna gained some sense and threw the powder down. She was sucked into the mass of the Floo system.

"This," Reyna was stuck saying as she admired the mass of people in the street. "This… Where are we?" she finally settled on some words to spew out.

She felt a hand tug on hers. "Diagon Alley," Rowan told her.

"Right," she gulped. It was a strange day but not the worst. "You are a witch?" She asked. "And this place-"

"Is essentially a magical marketplace."

"Really? Wow!" Reyna and Rowan stared at this new world with new understanding.

"I'm showing you this, Reyna, because you should know what you are getting into. It's actually against the law to do this and not erase your memory…

"Rowan is nine and her magic is developing. We typically don't allow non-magical folk, to adopt witches and wizards. I'm sorry... but today is your lucky day. Rowan isn't registered as a witch in our systems. If you are willing, you can adopt her."

Reyna looked down at the girl still holding her hand.

She closed her eyes, and just for a moment allowed the illusion to consume her. It was a perfect world where nothing was wrong. No one was weird, she was married to a loving husband and had a daughter, and she could walk along the streets of London and be fascinated by the marvels of a man-made city, but she opened her eyes. The magic she felt was enough to tell her that the busy street before her, Diagon Alley, was a world she would never be able to forget. Even if it were crazy dangerous for her.

"I want this," she smiled and looked down at the girl holding her hand. If her life was going to be upside down, at least she had a reason to keep it from going under. "I'm so lucky to have found you."


	2. Snakes

A/N: Hey-o people! Finally I mean. I have had this story in my head for ages, and now its here. Now I stopped calling the story A New Kind of Fun and have made it the last book in a trilogy so everything you see here is gonna be extra special planning stuff and submissions for Challenges. Its gonna be cool and epic and stuff and I love it.

SO this installment is actualy what I had planned for the actual first chapter just with just the Hogwart School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Flying Lesson added in. Don't worry this is completely original (written in like seven hours) just the idea was old. I used the prompt [object] Bottle of Firewhiskey, and the word count is 3,199 the longest chapter I've written in a while. I really hope y'all enjoy.

Hoots,

Owls

* * *

_Peck, Peck, Tap... Crack. _The noise from his window woke Jame from his pre-Hogwarts sleep, that he would most likely never get back again. "Stupid bloody owl, at too bloody early in the morning," he grumbled as he walked to the window above his desk. Why was an owl there and not delivering the letter with the normal post? Obviously someone needed him, but who would be so discreet?

Rubbing his eyes with one hand and yawning, James opened the window and let the jet black bird inside. The owl ruffled its feather leaving a few on a stack of unsent letters. The half-asleep boy plucked the letter from the owl's claws which were sharpened to deathly points. It hissed at him when he pulled out the letter before flapping off into the horizon-the sun just rising.

James looked down at the letter and back to the open window at the dot on the horizon. "It's too bloody early for this!" He closed the window and flopped down on his bed.

He opened the letter, and curly, nearly unreadable script began to carve its way into the paper:

"_Mr. Potter_," it began-the ink drenching the page like blood seeping into a dying man's clothes.

"_It has come to our attention that you know too much. That, as you know, is a dangerous thing, and well, we can't risk it. _

"_Sorry about this. It's a shame to lose such a… valuable man, but winners can't be too risky… We, however, don't care about those stupid rules. Instead of killing you when you are so unsuspecting, we have installed a potion in this letter's paper activated when someone-only you actually-touches our seal,_" James looked down the page to see what the letter was addressing. His thumb sat over a green wax seal of a serpent constricting a skull. Shocked, his eyes continued reading: "_a vicious monster will be released, a serpent, and will reek havoc over everything you love. Good luck dealing with this demon; if you pass, who knows what the Master will do for you_.

"_Sincerly,_

"_The Serpent's Order,"_ the seal was to the right of this, looking extremely offical.

A burning sensation started in his thumb, and he dropped the paper, shocked and confused. On the floor, the paper burst into smoke, releasing a large slinking thing into the room. It was made of ghastly, gray-gray smoke, but at times, it seemed made of marble. The beast, with snake-like qualities-no legs, scales that scraped against his walls and floor and desk, fangs-but had strange features that made it demonic (there were two sets of black eyes, it was the size of half of his room, and its fangs were the size of his arm and numbered over a thousand).

James pushed himself back into his headrest at the top of his bed. The clatter he made drew the attention of the monster, and it slinked towards him, marble and smoke. Each _shenk_ of the its scales against the walls or the door, sent a chill raising up to his neck. James was shaking out of fear, and his breath was ragged. He was certain that the serpent could hear him.

It watched him for a moment with it's two sets of pitch black eyes. Then, it leaned in closer, and James couldn't get away. There was no escape-he was going to die, and it was all because some stupid cult thought he 'knew too much'. In that moment, he prayed to any God that was out there to save his sorry soul.

The thing peeled back its lips in a slow grin. Saliva drenched its gums and fell onto him, reeking of old blood and guts that had laid on the asphalt a second too long. The grin soon ended and transformed into a horrific screech. A hiss mixed with the scoldings of nails on chalk board and stubbing your toe and hitting your funny bone all at once. It was the most horrific thing he had ever heard since Moaning Murtle had come onto him in the fifth year.

"_Scared yet, boy?_" The words were jumbled inside his mind, as though on a delay. Each word came through at a different time and in no order, so the thing had to repeat each phrase. "_You should be._"

The monster slithered into the hallway, leaving James to his traumatized stare at the wall. The feathers left on his forgotten unsent letters to loved ones and friends to his family. He wondered if all of his mistakes would get them killed. "All because of that stupid bloody cult," he murmured.

A scream shout up from the distance. It could have been hours away or years, but he heard it. His mother, he quickly identified after hearing a string of colorful words following. Another scream rose and shouts proceeded. Spells, he assumed. The snake hissed again and he felt it up his spine, terrifying. James didn't feel much else, though. The beast had been drained from him for the moment-the will to live. Dramatic, yes, but true.

The fighting stopped on the floor below him, and his feelings of emptiness began to slip away. He gathered the energy to finally stand, placing a hand on his desk to steady himself. There was already a dark figure at the door. "James Sirius Potter, what the hell have you done?" His father began. The man's green eyes blazed with a fury only seen in the most serious of cases at the Auror Headquarters. He gripped his son's collar.

"You wouldn't understand," James said, his tone dead. It sounded cliched in his head, which was gaining back its previous vigor, but the rest of him just couldn't care.

"I understand, that a snake made of smoke came from your room, and nearly killed my wife, daughter, and son. It was obviously dark magic, James. If you are delving into anything beyond the realm of the light spells they teach you at school, I will not hesitate to take care of this like an Auror, do you understand me?"

"Of course," the boy choked out, his father's grip getting too tight. Harry released the boy, who collapsed to the ground. "I'm sorry, Dad. It'll never happen again."

"Good. Now get packed; we leave for your grandmother's in an hour."

* * *

With a final sucking feeling of the floo-though he could cast spells legally, including Apparition, but his wand had been confiscated-James arrived in the homely, crowded living room of the Burrow, his grandmother's home. The rickety, old building had expanded to impressive heights only possible, on its wavering structure, with magic, but many families (those not of the Weasley line, family friends and such) stayed in tents in the large yard. From the small windows and cracked door, James could see the flickering colors of children playing and parents talking over small platters of food from tables setup by various groups around the yard. It was a joval place, but the attack from earlier had left the Potter Family in a less than celebratory mood.

"Oh my!" the matriarch of the Weasley family had turned to her latest prey, leaving Lucy and Molly, Uncle Percy's daughters alone. "James, have you grown again? And oh, your so muscular? You must be a lady's man? When are you going to bring a girl here? I know! There are so many young ladies here! Fleur was just talking about a cute one, but I can't remember her name…" James felt that a much shorter, plumper, more fleshy serpent had attacked him again. Luckily, Albus pulled in her attention by trying to slip away, allowing James to do just that.

A burst of fresh air finally hit him, and James felt some of his freedom come back to his life. If he could only get a broom and circle around the pitch set up by the lake. Some of his cousins and their friends were already having a game. He quickly decided against joining them, not wanting to draw more attention to himself. James tucked himself deeper into his leather jacket and settled on watching the sky. The movement of the clouds was slow and steady. It was a nice change of pace from his life at the moment.

"Jamie, is that really you glooming over there?" a laugh that could only belong to Fred Weasley broke his thought. "Oh, is it a girl? Can James Potter not get some bird into his bed? Have I finally won our bet?" His brown eyes sparkled with mischief.

"First of all, it's not a girl. Secondly, I'm not interested in any of these girls. And I have no idea what bet you're talking about."

"I guess the bet was with… Doesn't matter?" Fred grinned. "So what's wrong? You can tell old Freddie anything."

James gave him a suspicious look before rolling his eyes. "It's nothing, maybe just the fact we have one year left to truly figure out who we are."

Fred froze, "don't tell me you're growing up! No Jamie, that's the one thing we promised!"

"We have to, Freddie. There's a big angry adult world out there." James grimaced at how much of like buzzkill he sounded.

"Oh dear me!" a shrill tone shredded towards them. "Is Jamie Potter growing up?!" April Longbottom was standing behind Fred, screaming into his ear. She was gripping the hand of a scared-looking brunette, tightly. "You can't, Jamie! You were going to be the last of us."

"Don't call me Jamie, April, and I have to. Unlike the two of you, I have an auror for a father who already expects me to fail."

"Awww," April cooed releasing the poor girl from her death grip. "Oh, right, sorry Rowan." She moved so she was no longer upstaging the mousy girl. "Jamie, Freddie, this is Rowan. She's been my best friend for forever, but she finally agreed to meet my family. Exciting, right!"

"Hey, love," Fred greeted, kissing her hand. Rowan responded by stepping back into April. She seemed distressed.

"Freddie, don't scare her. Like I said, best friend here. You've slept with all of the other ones, remember, and now they won't talk to me," April seethed. She brought a set of bright blue eyes down on him in an unsettling glare.

"Now, now, dearie, don't get jealous." Fred turned his grin to April. "There's always room for you on Freddie's list of-" April whacked him on the side of the head. "Hey, you devil woman!"

"Are they going to get a room?" James looked down to see the brunette watching the two intently. Her eyes seemed to be gauging every movement, analysing.

"One day, yeah, but there's no way Fred will settle down anytime soon."

There was a short silence. The two of the watching the Longbottom girl obliterate the Weasley. "April says she wants that, but I know she really just wants someone romantic and stable."

"You really are best friends," James looked down at her for a moment then focused back to April and Fred. One of the two was blushing. "How do you do it?"

She shrugged. "I'm quiet, she's loud. We just fit, I guess."

April turned from Fred who tried to turn her back around, looking apologetic.

Suddenly, James felt a chill up his spine. His knees nearly buckled, and he could feel the world getting a little darker. "_Are you scared?_" The sound of a thousand horrible deaths crawled up his leg. James saw the snake, slipping through tables. It started to weave its way through the groups of children, circling the group with Victoire and Teddy's, his cousin and god-brother, children. His nieces and nephews were being sniffed by a vicious beast.

"Can you see the snake, circling the group of kids?" Cold fingers gripped his wrist. He turned to see Rowan watching the snake the same way she had watched April and Fred, analysing.

"You can?" He had thought since no one else was panicking he was the only one.

"Yes," She released his arm. "It's attracted to magic," she explained.

"But spells in such a crowded place would make people think we're crazy and send us to St. Mungo's before we can blink." James told her. Rowan nodded a hard look on her face.

"Accio: pixie dust," Rowan whispered, a packet of gold powder slipped out from the pockets of a few aurors and assorted sundry assembled. "Spread it on the ground, and lead the snake to the shed. I'll be there waiting." The cold fingers left his wrist.

James looked between the snake and the pixie dust, noticing the door to his grandpa's shed closed. "Damn fast little bitch." he hissed, opening the bag. The snake's reaction was instant. It and cocked its head towards him.

The four-eyed beast began to ghost forward faster than he expected, and James began to throw pixie dust on the ground racing towards the door. His heart was pounding, and adrenaline pumped through his veins. He loved the rush.

Passing the first pile of powder, the snake seemed to just absorb the stuff. It seemed to get even faster. Five feet from the door, James dropped the powder and began to claw at the entrance to the shed, trying to watch the snake and open it.

Finally bursting in, the snake was on his heels. James managed to catch its head in the door as it wriggled and forced him to push harder to try and close the door. Rowan was standing at an industrial skink with a knife, he eyes wide with shock. He raised a brow and opened his mouth to comment, but the snake lashed its tail at the door causing James to lapse and the snake to get a few more inches into the shed.

"Right." Rowan stepped forward looking determined and little scared' the knife shaking in her hand. He realized she wanted to kill it. For a moment he caught her gray eyes and they seemed to speak of the little girl inside, not wanting to face the world. Scared.

He brought his boot down hard on the snake's skull, with a sickening crack. The girl released the breath she was holding and relaxed. "Thank you," she whispered approaching the thing. She pulled it completely into the shed leaving a puddle of blood by the door. Rowan sliced off the beast's head and began to bottle venom and blood.

"What happened out there?" James asked her. She glanced up at him, analysing again. His eyes were focused on her. He wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

With the knife, she cut off the snake's head and started collecting blood from its wounds in bottle. "It's called an afterthought. They come after the initial Nightmare. I imagine you got one of those recently."

James nodded. "But my family saw it before."

"Like I said Nightmare and Afterthought. Two different things."

"I don't understand." James furrowed his brow, sitting on a box and watching her scarp away scales.

"Its like a thestral," she explained, "only those who have seen death can see the thestral, so only those who have seen the Order's torture can see it. Most of the time people never remember the torture so they don't see the Afterthoughts."

"And you…" _saw it. _"How did you know about the pixie dust?"

"Oh, the Order's been getting cocky lately. They send Nightmare's to government officials and haunt them with Afterthoughts."

"Was that how the Minister was assassinated?" He remembered reading it in the news a few weeks previous. It was a big shock to everybody that the well loved woman had died.

"No he really did die of a cold, but the aurors have been dealing with that, and some magical creatures have been known to also eat magic. It's exactly uncommon."

James processed the new tidbits of information, glaring at the floor while Rowan continued to skin the snake. He walked over to a shelf and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid hidden behind some boxes.

Rowan raised a brow at the alcohol. "What's that?" She plucked a few teeth before finishing off her scraping with a bit of magic.

"Firewhiskey," He took a sip from the bottle, slipping to the floor, and held out to her.

She paused for a moment, before moving to him and accepting the bottle. She took a swig, coughing as it went down, and handed it back. "That's awful."

"But it's good."

"Sure, if you need to forget something horrific at two in the afternoon."

"I just killed a demon sent to haunt me for the rest the rest of my life."

"And I skinned it."

"Cheers to that," James raised the bottle and handed it back to Rowan. "Why did you need all of that stuff anyways?" He pointed to her jars and bottles of snake paraphernalia tucked inside a box the struck down the fit easily in her pocket.

"A potion." She wrinkled her nose at the drink's taste and handed it back.

"You're weird," he took a sip and passed it to her again.

Rowan gulped some down. "Yup," she croaked. "I can see what you mean about this stuff being so bloody good."

"Yeah." He held onto the bottle staring at the trinkets in his grandpa's shed.

"Do you think they're missing us?" Rowan motioned to the door.

"Nah, they proably think I'm snogging you right now."

She laughed, a little drunkenly, "Right! You are the playboy of the seventh year. I've heard a lot about you from all of the girls fifth year and up."

"Is that really my reputation?"

"Sorta, I don't really pay attention to the gossips, other then April and her group of Hufflepuffs and on occasion the girls in my dorm."

"Are you not a Hufflepuff?"

"Ravenclaw."

"Smarty-pants."

"I wish! I made only got 'O's on five OWLs. The others in my house get 'O's on every little thing and have like twenty OWLs and I get five 'O's."

"I got like three or something."

She laughed again. "But you're in Gryffindor, grades don't really matter over there. Heck failing is actually normal for you people, but a Ravenclaw has to do everything right!"

"I'm in Slytherin," he said, his tone hollow.

"Oh, really? I always thought you were at the Gryffindor table all the time."

"I am. They're nicer there."

"Hmm… Can I be a Gryffindor too sometime?"

"Sure, but you have to get that stick out from your ass because you really are smart and brave if you can face this thing the way you did."

"Then you should stop feeling sorry for yourself because your dad hates you or some bullshit because you're lucky to have realized what you're gonna do when you're older."

"I haven't-"

"Yes you have." She retorted cutting him off, leaving the two in silence. Rowan started laughing. "This is a great start to a friendship." She kicked at the toothless snake skull cover in frying blood with a large hole in its head.

"Yeah," James took another sip from the bottle and passed it to her.


	3. Pranks

A/N: This is the third freaking story this week maybe even more than that I don't know! Anywhoo. I have brought to you today. A look into the infamous past of Fred and April. So cute! Now this is being used for Camp Hogwarts and the Quidditch Pitch part of the Hogwarts House Challenge (join Ravenclaw) and for QLFC (Go Puddles).

Prompts:

Fred Weasley ii

[dialogue] It's all your fault, it always is.

[Plot] Your OC's first time at Hogwarts.

Also the word count's like 1,300 so we're gucci.

Hoots,

Owls

* * *

April stepped off the train and into the swirling mass of students rearing to get back to was it. She was going to Hogwarts! Her life was going to change forever. "First years, this way!" Signs read along a small path leading down to the lake pointing her towards the boats and here new, more excited life. April squealed, jumping up and down for a moment.

"Oh calm down," an antagonizing voice shouted at her. "It's not like you're getting married or did you get hit by a cheering charm?" April turned, a pout on her face, to look the culprit, Mr. Fred Weasley II, in the eye. He was grinning in a signature Fred way. She had learned that it meant no good for anyone if he was wearing it and nothing seemed wrong.

She looked around suspiciously for a moment, but the coast seemed clear. "I'm excited, so what? You've heard the stories our parents have told! History is made here." Her blue eyes twinkled with grand excitement, seeing in her mind's eyes the world where people worshiped her like the Savior or better yet she was a Hufflepuff like her mom.

"Right… " Fred stepped back from her in her sparking reverie that no one else could see. "Well the only history that will be made is by me being the best prankster in the history of Hogwarts," he smirked a secret gleam in his eye that scared her from her high.

"That or you're gonna get the most detentions," James Potter, a shaggy-haired boy, said, walking up to them. "I lost you, mate. Why'd you run off?"

There was a scream farther down the platform from what looked like the prefect's cabin. April frowned, too short to see what happened, but the big grin on Fred's face told her she would know eventually what happened.

"Well there was this couple snogging after the prefect meeting and I had to do something."

April stared at him in shock. "You're kidding me." She had expected something, but not so fast.

"Yeah, Fred already?" James clapped the boy's shoulder grinning as well. "Good on ya, mate!"

The commotion began to come closer. "I think they know it's you," April hissed worriedly, but the two had practically picked her up and raced through the crowd, laughing.

"Put me down!" Her protests went unheard in the crowd. The spun and twirled around the throng and April could see the tips of red hair over the heads of the older students. "They look really mad!" She told the boys, and they speed up, reaching in boats in a few moments, throwing her into one with a poor little redheaded girl who seemed to be waiting for her friends.

"Hi," April waved at the terrified girl. Behind her James and Fred jumped into the boat looking like fugitives. "I'm April and this is Jamie and that's Freddie. Don't pay attention to them–nothing they do matters." She smiled at her.

The girl gulped, watching them carefully. "Nice to meet you? I'm Maise."

"Great, you can talk!" The first girl clapped her hands, staring back at Maise intently.

"Stop scaring her, April," Fred laughed, pushing off the dock before the

"Shut up, you're the one who pranked the prefect cabin."

"That was you?" Maisie stared at them in even greater shock, gripping tightly to the boat.

"So much for a new friend," April looked glumly into the water of the black lack. The shore of her freedom from the next eight years of torture with the two buffoons next to her, creeping closer.

"And the one after that was me too," the dark skinned boy added.

"Fred-"

"Fred Weasley!" a girl finished for April, screaming from the shore.

"Victoire?" James whispered with an excited light in his eyes.

Fred nodded. "And Teddy."

From the distance, April could just make out inky hand prints on Victoire Weasley's shirt covering a particularly embarrassing region. She glared at Fred. "That is in no way appropriate!" She whacked him on the side of the head.

"Ow," he cursed.

"You deserve it, you bloody prick! Has some respect with your pranks!" The boat clunked against a stone dock attached to the castle, which towered far above the first years making their jaws drop. April's eyes were only for the angry looking woman before her. Deputy Headmistress Gamen.

"Miss Longbottom. I think your father will be very disappointed that you got detention so quickly."

"What? I didn't do anything-" she protested, but the woman held up a hand.

"You too Mister Weasley." The woman flipped the end of her robes and marched towards the school followed by the other student who hadn't seem to hear.

"I see you're breaking your father's record already." James patted Fred on the back.

"Why do you have to always get me in trouble?" April stood up blocking their way out, even Maisie, who didn't want to see the blonde mad.

"I didn't-" Fred started but she was gone in the swirl of people.

"You screwed up," Maisie nodded, leaving as well.

Fred turned to his best friend. "Sorry, mate, but you have to face this one alone."

OoOoO

"Write a nine inch paper on how awful pranking is and its consequences," the strict woman said a week later in detention. The newly sorted Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were sitting across the Transfiguration room from each other, waiting for the woman to give them their paper, so they could start.

The professor gave Fred a pointed look before sitting at her desk, reading a book. He looked around the room bored and not wanting to do the was working furiously on the paper already an inch or two in across the way from him. She was mad at him, but he didn't want her to be. _She would be even more mad at you if you told her that in the middle of detention_, he told himself. But, it was the only place he could talk to her; she wouldn't listen to him during classes or lunch or even in the library. Fred caved and stood up.

"Sit down and get to work, Weasley!" The woman slapped a ruler on her desk, not looking up from her novel.

Fred sat back down, but he had caught April's attention.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed across the room.

April rolled her eyes, turning back to her paper.

"Weasley sit down!" April looked up again to see Fred in front of her.

"Look, I'm really sorry-"

"Should should be! It's all your fault, it always is!" she screamed at him. "Professor Gamen, I'm done." She smacked the paper on the woman's desk, pushing past Fred.

The woman looked between the two, the paper and April. "Already?"

"I have a lot of experience in the cons of pranking," April glared at Fred and left the room, silent in her absence.

She sat back down, reading her book again. "You should follow her example Mr. Weasley and finish up." The door closed and she looked up. "Mr. Weasley, get back here!"

Racing into the hall, he saw the girl walk briskly forward hunched over her bag. "April," he pulled back on her shoulder, stopping her, but still she wouldn't face him. "Look, I'm sorry I dragged you down with my prank. I didn't mean it, but it's all fun and games." She was still silent and hunched over. "We're going to be here for _seven years _and I want them to be fun," she seemed to turn a bit as he send this. "Don't you?"

She turned finally. Facing him with a grin on her face that remarkable looked like his. "Yup," she handed him a bag. "We have to hurry though. I was thinking of starting in the dungeons–James says he'll meet us there."

Fred looked in the bag. Stink bombs, paint, fireworks, and boil pills from his dad's shop. "You are amazing," he grinned.

"Mr. Weasley get back here now or you'll have detention for a week!" Professor Gamen shouted down the hall.

April raised a brow as though to ask 'what do you wanna do?' "Let's run!"He laughed and started sprinting, grabbing onto her hand.


End file.
